Love and Relationships

Carina Hoang fled South Vietnam in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, endured a traumatic escape from which she barely survived, and now returns to the Indonesian isles to which she once escaped on an annual pilgrimage to uncover the lost graves of other Vietnamese refugees. Guided by faith, spiritual belief and the knowledge it was so nearly her laying in an abandoned grave, her efforts are bringing desperately awaited relief to families yearning to give a proper burial to long-dead loved ones.

WA Australian of the Year for 2016 Anne Carey rose to fame for having the courage to volunteer to fight the ravages of the Ebola virus in Sierra Leone. She is now embarking on a new challenge – urging Australians to have the courage to be kind. She says it was courage that helped overcome Ebola, and it’s courage that can help stamp out two threats she sees facing Australia – the insidious culture of workplace bullying and discrimination against refugees.

Patricia Lavater has saved hundreds of lives through her work with troubled and drug-addicted young women. She takes women who’ve given up on life, and counsels them, helps them detox and, perhaps most importantly, reminds them of their inner potential.

Perth man Leif Cocks has dedicated his life to saving the orangutan through his not-for-profit charity The Orangutan Project. The battle has plunged him to the depths of despair as he has borne witness to the atrocities orangutans face. But it has also filled him with awe and delight for a creature with an enormous capacity for love.

When Karen Winnett’s daughter Eleanor was four months old she was advised her baby would unlikely live past two years old. Go home and love her while you’ve got the chance, she was advised. Or, worse, don’t get too attached as she won’t be with you for long. But this fiercely determined mother refused to listen. Through sheer grit, unflinching determination and steadfast denial Karen has kept her bright and intelligent daughter alive. This year Eleanor celebrated her 22nd birthday.

Jenny Bowen’s charity OneSky, formerly Half the Sky Foundation, has transformed the lives of more than 130,000 Chinese orphans by showering these unwanted children with the most important ingredient missing from their lives – love. How did one woman make such a difference to so many?

After enduring the death of her mother to cancer and brother to suicide, Sally Lucas was not prepared for her own cancer diagnosis and consequent hysterectomy. But thanks to the love of her sister Anne Barbour, she not only survived but flourished to become a mother – a dream she’d thought life had denied her.

This 18-year-old Brisbane model is turning the fashion world upside down by showing that true beauty comes from within, and this often-fickle industry is falling in love with her for offering the reminder.

The death of Karen Civello’s little brother as a child sparked a troubled life that sent her to the depths of drugs, alcohol, depression and cancer. But, through sheer strength of will Karen fought back to create a life characterised by wellness, nurturing and self-care.

Nick Seneca Jankel’s quest to determine how people can feel good and live life as the best version of themselves has taken him from the hallowed halls of Cambridge University to the homelands of African tribes. He delivers his learnings in a style renowned for combining science with traditional wisdom, without the woo woo.

Foster mother Sharon Greenock has cared for some 20 foster children and welcomed four of them into her home permanently, alongside her three biological children. What drives someone to open their heart and their home to children who’ve been removed from their families because the Family Court rules it unsafe?

As the mother of a 16-year-old son with autism, Clara Harris has embarked on a mission to help others living with disabilities and depression by sharing her own often raw, painful and life-enriching experiences. In doing so she is capturing the hearts of those she meets with her warmth, love and honesty.